Time Heals
by The Grim Writer
Summary: (Set after Scooby Doo Meets The Boo Brothers) Shaggy lies awake one night, contemplating everything normal and paranormal that has happened in his young life. Memories begin to haunt the beatnik, memories ranging from simpler days of driving around the country in a brightly painted van solving mysteries, to more recent days spent catching ghosts with the love of his life...
1. Chapter 1

Hi fanfic-community! This here is my first story, so why I do appreciate any reviews from you guys, please don't bash me- it is my first fanfic, so constructive criticism is what I would much rather want.

This story takes place between the movies Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers and Scooby Doo and The Ghoul School. This is a sad Shaphne fanfic, so if you don't ship it or like sad stories, don't read (don't worry, there IS a bit of a happy ending, so it's not completely depressing). The story is more of a life journey sort of thing, kind of inspired off of A Christmas Carol, where the main character changes his ways for the better all in one night.

This story also has panic attacks and PTSD, so if you are triggered by that, I'd advise you not to read this. I don't want my story to give people heart attacks or anything like that.

Also, even though the Boo Brothers and Ghoul School movies were made in the mid-80's, I had the story take place in the mid-70's. Here is a timeline to give you an idea of what time period each Scooby Doo show prior to the Ghoul School took place in as well as what the main character (Shaggy's) age would be.

* * *

Scooby Doo Where Are You?

1969, Shaggy-17 (A lot of the mysteries don't seem to be in a lot of far off places, meaning it's safe to assume the gang is still in high school and don't travel much besides the occasional trip)

* * *

The New Scooby Doo Movies /The Scooby Doo Show

1970, Shaggy-18 (The gang graduates high school and travel the world in the Mystery Machine, before they either go to college or get jobs)

* * *

Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo

1971, Shaggy-19 (The first season had the entire original gang, Fred, Daphne, and Velma, who were mostly just waiting out the last couple of months before they started their first years in college. The rest of the seasons are just of Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy traveling around in the van, mostly going to fun events with the occasional odd job to pay for food and gas. I'm guessing Shaggy is still technically a teen when it's just him and the dogs traveling around because a lot of the events they went to were a Teen-Science Far or Teen related, hinting at the hippy living out the last couple of months he had left as a teen.

* * *

The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show/The New Scooby Doo Mysteries

1972, Shaggy-20 (Shaggy meets up with Daphne, after she was presumably has finished taking a few college classes and ends up working with her at the same teen-magazine company she works for)

* * *

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo

1974, Shaggy-22 (I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say that they still work for the magazine company, but it's only shown off screen. Meaning they probably didn't bump into a lot of mysteries over the series, but were instead focused on capturing the thirteen ghosts)

* * *

Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers

1976, Shaggy-24 (Shaggy quits the magazine company when Daphne splits up from the rest of the gang, leading him to eventually take a job as a gym teacher at Miss Grimwood's School of Girls, er, I mean, Ghouls)

* * *

Hopefully that clears it up a bit. According to the internet, Shaggy and Fred are both 17 in the original Scooby Doo Where Are You? series, while Daphne is 16 and Velma 15. If you want to find out what Scooby's age is, just subtract Shaggy's age by ten. For those of you who flunked math, that makes Scooby 7 in his original series. So, all that aside, enjoy the story!

P.S. No joke, this ENTIRE story was based off of why Shaggy drove that green jeep in The Boo Brothers movie, when in the Ghoul School he still had the red van from the 13 Ghosts, which aired BEFORE the Boo Brothers. It's like the writers just sorta… skipped over its existence for that movie or something.

P.P.S- I own nothing mentioned in this entire story, which kinda sucks

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Whirr-whir-whir-whir-whir-whir-whir-whir-ker plunk.

The key in the ignition was yanked out of its slot and thrown out of the open car window in a fit of frustration. It bounced off of the brick garage wall and landed on the cement floor in the corner with a metallic ting. The long-haired beatnik slumped down in the driver's seat with a defeated sigh.

Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he pondered on what he should do next- scratch that, what could he do next? By no means was he a mechanic, at the very least professionally. Back during his late teens, he did learn a thing or two about cars, usually when a certain brightly painted van decided to break down in the middle of nowhere (or worse, somewhere spooky).

Shaking his head from those memories, he looked past the windshield at the hood of the navy green jeep he was currently sitting in, completely stumped. While it would make more sense to take it to a repair shop, he didn't exactly have the money to do so at the moment, and besides, it wasn't like he didn't have another set of wheels to drive…

Shaggy stopped himself with another shake of the head and sighed. He really didn't want to drive that van again, not because it wasn't permanently broken down like the Mystery Machine, but simply because… it held too many memories. Memories he didn't want to have to think about, especially this late into the evening.

The clock on the wall told him it was just past nine. Shaggy stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut, a little harder than he had intended to. The door fell off with a large clang, making the hippy jump back a little in fright. Wiping off his hands on a grease rag and throwing it on the small work table he set up next to his currently boarded-up garage door, he decided that for now he should just go check on the dogs.

While walking into the door that connected to the house, a higher pitched voice made him stop in his tracks.

"Hiya Shag, how'd it go?", came from a young, brown Great Dane puppy, who was currently raiding the fridge.

"Like not too good, Scrappy. I think that old thing might need to go to the scrapyard soon, cause like I think the mud from that sink hole gummed up part of the engine or something. I can't figure out what's wrong with it!", Shaggy said as he walked into the kitchen and leaned on the counter.

The pup gave a disappointed face. "Oh well. Ooh! I know! Maybe my Uncle Scooby can help!" The little dog took off to the living room with his stack of snacks, yelling for his uncle. The beatnik sighed slightly at the spilled milk carton lying in front of the half-opened fridge door in annoyance.

"Then again", he thought, "he's only a puppy. Before long he'll be as big as that legendary uncle of his". Shaggy bent down and picked up the carton off the hard wood floor. "Hopefully, like he won't be as klutzy as him. Then I might be in real pickle", the hippy said speaking his thoughts aloud, while closing the fridge door and heading over to the roll of paper towels on the counter.

"Rickle? Where?", came a gruffer, deeper voice from an older dog that had just walked in the kitchen, oddly enough on his hind legs, while carrying about a dozen or so empty popcorn bags and dumping them in the trash.

"Like hey Scoob, I was just thinking about food is all. Watch the floor, I gotta wipe that up", said Shaggy as the Great Dane was about to slip on the spill in front of the fridge.

"Rhoops! Rhanks Raggy!", came the response.

Grabbing the roll of paper towels, the hippy turned around and headed to clean up the white puddle that was currently in front of the refrigerator.

"Reep still ron't start?", is what the bell bottomed young man heard when he was on his knees wiping up the mess on the floor.

"Yeah, like I can't figure out what's not making it go. Then again, it was the cheapest thing in the lot when I bought it, and it went through a lot more than I thought it would on our last adventure".

Scooby hummed in response, then proceeded to raid the fridge once Shaggy moved, stacking food in a similar way that his nephew had just done a moment prior.

"Hey! Like make sure you leave me something to eat!", Shaggy said in minor annoyance as he went to toss the now soaked paper towel in the garbage can.

"Ron't worry, I rid", Scooby said reassuringly, but couldn't help but let out a small snicker as he left the room. Shaggy growled in annoyance and threw open the fridge, only to find… a pickle. Literally a pickle, one lone pickle sitting in its jar full of pickle juice.

Slamming the door as hard as he could, the beatnik yelled at the top of his lungs, "SCOOBY DOO, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!", before stomping out the back door, and slamming that shut as well.

…

Shaggy stood there on the old door mat, his eyes screwed shut and his fists shaking, before allowing himself to relax and breath again. He sat down on the small stoop, still trying to calm down. He sighed. It's been like this ever since…

He used to be angry at Scooby before sometimes, Scrappy as well. After all, friends just got mad at each other. It was normal to feel mad at someone occasionally. But lately, it's been getting out of hand. Thinking back to their last adventure, he would get ticked off at the slightest thing that didn't go his way. The way he got mad at both of the dogs for not being able to find where Beauregard Road was on the map. When Scooby scared him half to death in the attic dressed as a ghost. The final straw was when the Boo Brothers invited all their friends and family into HIS house for a massive ghoulish party, when they were supposed to be tracking down the other "ghosts" that were currently haunting his late-uncle's plantation.

Shaggy couldn't help but feel terrible about his behavior, especially when the ghostly trio explained to the gang that they were homeless, orphans, and essentially had no purpose in life, well, after life that is. While they definitely deserved to get yelled at, he never would have thought HE would have been the one to do it.

With a sigh, he looked across the back yard to the furthest corner of the white wooden fence, where a dull green and blue vehicle sat on the grass. It was a miracle his neighbors didn't mind the old hippy van sitting in his backyard like this. As long as it wasn't in the front or visible from the street they could care less, at least, that's what they told him. His most recent actions might have struck a nerve in them, but he explained the best he could while trying to give himself at least some of his dignity.

Shaggy headed over to the Mystery Machine and sighed upon looking at it. It wasn't bad, just a little duller in color with a few rust spots starting to pop up here and there. Besides that, it looked just like it did when the old gang painted it. With a chuckle, Shaggy remember how long it took them before they agreed on the design and color choice. They ended up piling all their ideas into one; Fred and Scooby agreed that it should have blue, while Shaggy wanted to add some green. Velma wanted a touch of orange to make the words pop, while Daphne… Daph wanted the flowers. She felt purple would have made the orange parts not stand out as much, so she decided flowers along the side and the spare tire cover would add some character to the second-hand vehicle. And she was right, it was hard to imagine the beloved van without its large decorative flowers on it.

With a rusty creak, Shaggy wrenched the back doors open. The inside of the van was about as worn out as the outside- the metal grey walls had a few dings in them, and the slightly faded grey carpet had a few stains from various snacks devoured in the past. The bench seat up front had a large black patch sewn over the tear that Scooby had accidentally made (using his head, of course), when they visited Colorado for that skiing trip at Pratt's Peak Lodge. Where they inevitably got tangled up in yet another mystery. Yet another mystery. How he wished it could be that structured again. To go from town to town, on some vacation or what, only to discover a haunted building with a creepy ghoul stalking it, only for said ghoul to end up being old man what's-his-face because he was a greedy, no good-

"Raggy?"

Shaggy jumped, nearly hitting his head on the low van roof. Scooby was peering his head inside, a concerned expression on his face.

"Like hi Scoob, come on in, I'm not mad at you" was all it took for the big canine to bound inside the van and plop down next to his master.

"Rhat are you doing?".

"Just, like, thinking is all".

There was silence in the vehicle for a while until Shaggy gave a sigh.

"Like we had plenty of groovy memories in this tin can, haven't we Scoob?".

The dog wasn't sure where his friend was going with this, so all that he gave in response was a simple, "Rmm hmm", in agreement.

"Remember the school dance in that old barn? With the chocolate covered corn on the cob?".

Scooby slurped as his mind went down to that particular memory. "Reah! That was rummy!".

Shaggy gave a short laugh. "Yeah, and like then after we all ran away from the Creeper, you ended up being a mother hen for a while, remember?" Scooby scrunched his face in thought, but instantly remembered the small little chick he accidentally hatched while hiding in plain sight from the green clad ghoul.

"Ruh-huh, ruh-huh, I remember now!" he said while nodding his head in agreement.

"Yeah! And like what about the time the Ghost of Mr. Hyde snuck through the back doors in here while we were eating at the old Malt Shop? Remember how after that case we all kept giving Fred the stink eye for a week until he like finally got the van's locks fixed?".

"Reah, that was runny! Reeheeheeheeheehee!"

Shaggy sighed with a smile and rested his head on the top of the grey bench seat. "Man, would I give anything to be back in those days".

Scooby stopped laughing. "Really? Rhat rabout Scrappy?"

The hippy turned towards the Great Dane.

"Well, not that I don't like him or anything, but those days were simple, ya know? Like, just a group of meddling high schoolers, out late, looking for trouble and things that go bump in the night. We didn't have to worry about jobs, bills, our futures… anything really! It was just, like really groovy back then".

Scooby gave him a look. "Rhat about now?"

Shaggy sighed, this time with a frown. "Now? Well, now is okay, I guess… but like everything is so crazy, ya know? I mean, we met thirteen of the creepiest ghosts in the world, and on top of that, ghost-chasing ghosts! I mean that's, that's just like crazy talk Scoob! There was no scientific explanation or a who dunnit kind of thing- no logic what so ever! None of it makes any sense, and now I'm just scared it's like just gonna get even weirder and I don't know how much more I can take it and- "

By now Shaggy was starting to hyperventilate, just as Scooby had feared.

"Raggy. RAGGY. Rook at me, Raggy. It's roing to be rokay" Scooby then gave him a hug and held him until he stopped shaking.

"L-Like thanks, old buddy old friend old pal. Don't know what'd I do without ya" Shaggy said with a nervous smile.

Scooby gave a smile before he started to head out of the van. He stopped when he realized the beatnik wasn't following him.

"Raggy?"

Shaggy turned his head.

"You roming?", the dog questioned.

"Like, in a minute Scoob. Don't worry, I'll see you in a few"

This didn't stop the dog from giving him a look, but he left anyway. Shaggy turned his head from the doors and gazed out the front windshield of the old hippy van. He tried to picture the moving highway, a spooky dirt road, anything besides the white wooden fence it was permanently stuck facing. He could still imagine the backs of the heads of the old gang sitting in their respective seats. Short blonde hair in the driver's side, a bob of brown hair in the passenger's side, and a sea of fiery red hair right in the middle.

Shaggy sighed, then slumped against the inner walls of the van until he was practically lying on the floor. He then checked his homemade Scooby-styled watch, only to find it to be a quarter after eleven. "Zoinks", he murmured under his breath as he got up from the floor, his back aching from lying awkwardly on the thinly carpeted metal floor. "Scoob's gonna kill me"

...

The back door opened with a loud creak. Shaggy cursed his luck and peered inside the dark and empty kitchen. The coast was clear. Stepping inside, the beatnik made sure to lock the door before heading further into the dark house. When he reached the connecting door to the garage, he made sure he locked it as well since his garage door was busted since his last "incident".

He checked the living room, only to find the two Doo's asleep on the couch with an old monster movie playing on the tv, a pile of opened snack wrappers and empty soda cans on the coffee table. Shaggy gave a light chuckle upon seeing the duo snore in the most obnoxious way possible.

"Like uncle, like nephew, I guess...", he said under his breath as he switched the set off, pitching the room into darkness. Climbing up the stairs proved to be a challenge. Trying to find a spot where they didn't creak was like trying to find a safe spot in the middle of a mine field. Once on the second floor, the nervous hippy peeked his head downstairs, but when he heard two sets of snores he sighed in relief; he hadn't woken them up. When he finally reached his bedroom, he kicked his shoes off and flopped onto his bed, hoping things would be better tomorrow…

* * *

 **Author's Note**

The Scooby styled watch that Shaggy looks at was based off the watch he was wearing during the Ghoul School when he was running in Revolta's castle and checked his watch, which resembled a Mickey Mouse watch where the arms acted as the hands of the clock. I'm just gonna say a thoughtful friend or relative made it and gave it to him for Christmas and leave it at that. Also, the episode where the gang visits Colorado on a skiing trip was from Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo, "Rocky Mountain Yiiiii!", and Scooby does quite literall sling shot himself into the back of the van, tearing his head through the seat cushion. And also, what is with monsters like the Creeper and Mr. Hyde just walking into the van like it was nothing? Until I started watching some old episodes, I never really thought about it much, always assuming they left the van unlocked for some reason. But if you knew your town was swarming with criminals dressed in rubber masks, would you really leave your car doors unlocked? Hence, why I had the van's locks busted in the story. It sorta makes sense, considering that these are high schoolers, meaning their van most likely isn't the newest model and may not have the best lock system like newer cars.

Anyway, please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

Just to let you know, MAJOR panic attack happens in this chapter. Reader discretion advised.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

12:00 am. Midnight. The time of ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, monsters, etc. Also, the time Shaggy saw on his alarm clock while he lay awake in bed. Rolling over, he tried to find a comfortable position, trying not to think of his current automobile predicament, nor any other memories that decided to worm their way into his head.

A low growl was heard. The beatnik almost asked his dog if that was his stomach out of habit, before realizing it was only his.

"Well, what a better time for a midnight snack then like midnight?", he said with a groan as he rolled out of bed, his back still sore from earlier before. Walking out of his room, he was just about to start going down the stairs, only to remember that the only thing in the fridge at the moment was a single pickle.

"Dog gone it Scoob", he said under his breath. And Scrappy, the beatnik supposed, but he was only a puppy. His uncle, on the other hand, was a fully grown adult dog who should have known better. Leaning against the railing of the stairs, Shaggy let out yet another unhappy sigh. "Man, Scrappy. He heard me yelling. I got to remember to apologize to him in the morning", the beatnik thought unhappily.

...

Looking out the window, he could see the small little neighborhood him and his two buds called home. He could see the red tulips from his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Hanson, just over the white fence bordering their two properties. He remembered apologizing to her, as well as several other of his neighbors immediately after he returned from Beauregard Manor. She gave him quite an earful, that lady. Then again, if someone crashed their car right through their garage door and started gunning it twenty over the speed limit a little after one in the morning, he supposed he might be a little mad at them as well.

At least she was more understanding then the others. Not everyone would believe the young man when he told him the reason he ran out of his house like it was rigged to explode was because he "had a bad dream". Mrs. Hanson was about to chew his head off a little more for waking her kids up on a school night, but when she looked closer at his expression, she realized it must be true, at least to some degree. After a few minutes of conversation, she handed him a small card for a phycologist downtown. She told the beatnik it helped her husband Will when he came home from Vietnam and developed PTSD and panic attacks. When the woman went to offer Shaggy some tea and biscuits, he declined and hurriedly said that he needed to apologize to a few of the other neighbors. She bid him a farewell, and urged him that he should take her advice and call the phycologist.

It was no secret to the neighborhood that Shaggy was easily scared. There would be times where the mail man would see the beatnik outside and went to hand deliver his mail to him, only to catch the taller man by surprise when he tapped him on the back. Or others, where a loud truck honking it's horn as it drove by would cause him to jump a foot in the air when he was outside mowing the lawn. It was even more obvious to the parents of the kids that went Trick-or-Treating at his house. When the little ones bounded up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the doorbell, the adults waiting by the road were always alarmed of the lack of Halloween decorations on the property. Other neighbors had the usual scary faced jack-o-lanterns, fake spider webs, foam tomb stones staked into the ground, and a couple of fake ghosts hanging by strings in their trees. At Shaggy's house, there were usually just three pumpkins, each one a carving of one of the residents living in the house, and occasionally a couple of cartoony paper bats hanging in the front windows. When the door opened, the hippy would each give them a warm smile and a handful of candy, but it was his eyes that always gave him away. His eyes looked anxious, as though he thought that when he handed the little boy dressed as a goblin his candy, the little boy would suddenly jump up and bite down on his arm. Then the door would be shut quickly, with a slight motion on the door handle that would suggest that it had just been locked.

They never questioned his odd behavior. That is, until late one night, a loud crash and screeching of tires woke up half the neighborhood in the middle of the night. Looking out their windows, the green jeep with the "SD" sticker on the spare tire on the back was unmistakable. It was sitting there on the street, with its hazards on, when that big dog he owned jumped out of the passenger seat and bounded back to the house, where the garage door was smashed apart. After all the lights in the place were switched on, the dog came running back out, strangely enough on its hind legs, while it held something wrapped in a blue blanket in his front legs. The large canine barely had enough time to jump back in the jeep before it took off roaring down the street again, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Neighbors were baffled. A couple of them called each other, while others grouped together in front of the recently abandoned house, trying to figure out what happened. The front door was left wide open, so a few of the neighbors took a quick peak inside, expecting to see smoke or a fire starting in the kitchen. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. They did a quick walk through in their neighbor's home, respectful enough not to touch anything or go through anything, and found nothing. No suggestions of any fire, a surprise break in, nothing. The only thing that seemed off was the bedroom. The covers were in a tangle on the floor, suggesting they were thrown off in a rush. A nightgown and hat also lay next to the blanket, further suggesting that the beatnik had to get changed and be somewhere in a hurry… at quarter after one in the morning.

The small search team were just walking out the front door when they saw the letter taped to the door. It was a will, of a man named William Beauregard, who was apparently Shaggy's uncle. It all was starting to make some sense. The young man must have over reacted upon hearing the bad news, which prompted him to get to wherever his uncle's remains might be to grieve. That made sense, but didn't stop the rest of the neighborhood from being upset with him none the less.

One member of the search team, Joe, couldn't help but still be confused. "If he jumped out of bed from seeing the will, why was the will taped to the door and not up in his room?'", he asked the rest of the neighbors. When they couldn't come up with an answer, they decided to simply ask him about it when he got back from his uncle's place. As well as chew his head off a bit for rudely waking people up in the middle of the night.

...

Shaggy remember each of them telling him of the small search through his house when he came back and apologized, as well as the wrath some of them threw upon the hippy. One grumpy man in particular, someone the local children "affectionately" called old man Jenkins, actually did throw a vase that was sitting next to the door at the poor beatnik. As Shaggy ran down the sidewalk in utter terror, the only thing he heard from the old coot was, "If you EVER do something as ridiculous as that again, I'll be hurling a grenade at ya instead of that vase!"

Shaggy decided to consider THAT the closest thing to his apology to him, before sighing and heading over to the next neighbor's house.

Huh. Sighing. Thinking about it made him realize that he had been doing that a lot lately. A quick glance at the glowing red numbers back into his bedroom told him it was just past one in the morning now.

"As well as like losing track of time", he murmured under his breath. He pushed off from against the staircase railing and lumbered back into bed, trying to convince himself to get some rest without any food to attempt to fill his bottomless stomach. Flopping down on the old mattress, Shaggy tried to get himself in a better position. Deciding the red numbers from his alarm clock on his dresser were too bright, he flipped over on his other side to face the window- as well as the ghost.

Well, white drapes. They could easily be seen as ghosts, especially at a quick glance.

"Or, in the middle of a nightmare", the hippy miserably said, as he thought back to the events that started this whole mess with his neighbors.

...

It was one in the morning when Shaggy started rustling in his sleep. He dreamt, oddly enough, of him and Scooby sleeping in his room, with the large dog on the floor, snoozing in front of the window. Something woke Scooby up in a start, causing him to look around the room hastily in fear and confusion. When the Great Dane turned back around, there was a big, white ghost floating right towards him, causing the dog to yelp for his master, and jump in the safety of the covers on the beatnik's bed.

When Shaggy woke up, in his dream that is, the first thing he saw was Scooby Doo shakily pointing at the giggling, ghoulish ghost heading right towards them. With the two figures shaking in the bed in fear, the ghost somehow grew to a Godzilla like size, and levitated the bed OUT THE WINDOW. The only thing worse than being levitated out of your bedroom window in the middle of the night was the fact that the neighborhood was, well, nonexistent. No houses, no roads. No GROUND. Nothing but sky. It was almost like floating in space, except with a giant ghost laughing his tail off right next to you while you are busy shivering in the bed that you were moments ago sleeping in.

When Shaggy actually woke up, this time in cold sweat, the first thing he saw were the white drapes. In his mind, he saw the giggling ghost, so the logical thing to do was yell at the top of his lungs-

"SCOOBY DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

-while trying to jump out of bed, away from the "ghost" with his legs tangled up in the sheets.

"Raggy? Rhat's wrong?", the canine in question said, still half asleep from waking up after hearing his master yell for him.

"We're getting out of here, now!", the skinny man hollered as he threw off his hat and nightgown, and began pulling his blue bell bottoms and shoes on in the dark.

"Ruh? Why?", Scooby questioned, slowly waking up.

"Ghosts! Here, in this house, THAT'S WHY!", Shaggy yelled as he tugged on his red V-neck and grabbed his car keys.

"Rhosts?! Rait for me!", the Great Dane yelped, rushing past his master down the stairs. When they reached the garage, they both dove in the jeep and started it up, headlights flashing on. Shaggy put the petal to the metal as Scooby cowered in fear.

"Raggy! Rait, the rarage door!" Crash. Too late. White pieces of the door were thrown away from the garage on impact as the jeep thundered down the road as fast as it could. Scooby looked back at the hole in the garage that previously had a door covering it in disbelief. He couldn't believe Shaggy would be this reckless in an attempt to get away from a ghoul. His best friend just demolished the door just like it was nothing, reducing it to scrap-

"SCRAPPY!", the Great Dane yelped, realizing they had forgotten him. The jeep lurched to a halt and the hazards went on. "Grab him Scoob", was all it took for the dog to jump out of the passenger seat and practically hurl himself back towards the house. He left his only nephew back in the house to fend for himself against the ghost- assuming he had even woken up. Turning on all the lights in a panic, he finally found the smaller Great Dane sleeping in the upstairs window sill, wrapped up tight in a small, little blanket. Grabbing him carefully but firmly, Scooby booked it back to the jeep. Jumping in the passenger side and shutting the door, the dark green jeep floored it yet again, driving off and out of the neighborhood.

...

They've been driving for over forty minutes in almost complete silence. The hum of the engine and the snores from the puppy curled up in his uncle's lap were the only thing that filled the cab. They were now in the middle of the woods, far away from civilization. Scooby was starting to worry, because this was exactly how the duo would usually run into monsters.

"Raggy?"

Silence.

"Raggy, where are we roing?"

"S-Some place safe, Scoob, d-don't worry"

This answer didn't sooth the dog's nerves. Turning to look at his owner, he was going to say something again, only to look closer at him. Shaggy's hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight that they were shaking. His eyes had a panicked look in them, as if he was staring death in the face, and his teeth were starting to chatter. The dog's eyes widened as Shaggy was starting to have a panic attack right in front of him. While he was recklessly driving over the speed limit late at night on a twisty, bump filled trail in the middle of the woods. Scooby had to go about this carefully. One wrong move could make Shaggy lose whatever composure he had left and crash the jeep into one of the many trees littered along this winding trail. Clutching his nephew tightly against his chest, and making sure his small body was securely strapped behind the seat belt, Scooby made his move.

"Raggy, stop the rar"

Silence.

"Raggy pull rover row"

Silence again. Not helping Scooby's own growing anxiety.

"Raggy! Snap rout of rit!"

Silence. The dog was growing desperate.

"RAGGY, STOP!", the dog suddenly yelped, reaching over and pulling the emergency brake next to the center console. Schreeeeeeeech…

Bash.

The corner of the bumper just lightly hit the trunk of a tree that they were seconds away from colliding with. This caused the driver and his passengers to suddenly lurch forward, only to be held back by their seatbelts. Scooby breathed out a sigh of relief he didn't realize he was holding in. He looked down at his, miraculously, still sleeping nephew, relieved to find him still pressed up against his chest beneath the seat belt and not flying out through windshield and into the night. Then he turned towards the beatnik in the driver's seat.

"Raggy?"

Silence. The only sound was of Shaggy's teeth chattering uncontrollably.

Scooby frowned. He wasn't sure what to do. The Great Dane was never trained to be any sort of therapy dog or anything. He decided he would improvise.

Setting Scrappy carefully on the dash in front of him, the older dog reached in the back, hoping to find- yup, there it was. Scooby pulled the familiar orange box out from underneath the backseat, left there as an emergency snack, in case whoever was driving was suddenly broke down stranded in the middle of nowhere for hours. After all, everyone got hungry eventually, and it was better to leave food like this lying around, especially with their bottomless appetites. He turned towards Shaggy and began shaking the box, causing the delicious treats inside to rumble around in a crunchy, tasteful manner.

"Raggy. Rook, Scooby Snacks"

The dog holding the box sampled a few and gave a big mmm in satisfaction.

"Mmm… Rummy! Rant some Raggy?", said Scooby, shaking the box once more.

Nothing.

This time Scooby was worried. Neither of them could resist the tasty dog treats. That is, until now. Putting the box away, Scooby did the only thing he could think of. Wrapping his big paws around the hippy's shoulders, he pulled him into a hug. Shaggy froze for a bit, before pulling his buddy tighter. Scooby could feel a few tears fall onto his furry back, but he paid no attention to them.

"Rhere, rhere, Raggy. It's rokay row", Scooby repeated over and over again, until he felt his friend stop trembling so much. Eventually, the two pulled apart. Shaggy put his hands back on the wheel, looking much calmer, all though still somewhat shaken.

"Retter?", questioned the big dog, as he scooped his nephew off the hard surface of the dashboard and back into the comfort of his lap. Shaggy turned towards him, eyes full of a familiar shine, and gave him his usual goofy grin.

"Like yeah Scoob. MUCH better. Thanks, ol' pal"

Scooby leaned back in his seat with his own goofy smile, satisfied that he had done good, and was about to drift off to sleep when-

"Huh, what's with this thing?"

Opening an eyelid, Scooby saw the young man trying to drive forward, but was puzzled on why the jeep wasn't moving anywhere.

"Remergency brake is ron. Rand there's a tree runk rin front of rus"

"Oh, whoops. Like, I, uh, sorta forgot. Thanks, Scoob"

It was only after they returned home that they noticed the will taped to the front of their door. The duo began packing up both theirs and Scrappy's suit cases with everything they might need and left at about four in the morning, making a quick stop at the gas station for gas, food, and some coffee to keep themselves awake. By the time the sun reached the horizon, Scrappy had just woken up, and was chowing down on the multiple breakfast bars the other two purchased earlier as Shaggy explained to him where they were going and why. Thankfully, the curious pup never thought to ask WHY they had left so early in the morning if it wasn't any sort of emergency. "Although, to be honest", Shaggy thought, "he might have like, just assumed it was another way his "amazing Uncle Scooby" liked to do things. Or he didn't know what time it was. Or something"

Shaggy turned his attention from the drapes, and instead looked at his nightstand. Switching the lamp on, he picked up the business card of the phycologist that Mrs. Hanson recommended him. Apart of him really wanted to seek professional help, he really did. It would help get a lot off his chest, and probably help him out in the long run. The only problem about telling other people besides the gang about his problems was just the problem. The second the phycologist heard him tell stories of REAL ghosts and goblins, not just men in masks, he'd be thrown in the loony bin for sure. He could maybe make up a story. Yeah, him and his friends were… undercover agents searching for thirteen of the most wanted criminals in the world? Maybe that could work, but should the phycologist try and search for records of any of these made up criminals and find out he was lying… well, he's not sure what might happen. Besides, should he let slip of the fact that they pretty much smuggled Flim-Flam in and out of the states, he'd for sure be in a heap of trouble with ol' Uncle Sam. Besides, the last thing he wanted was for the young con artist to get into trouble because of him.

No matter what way he looked at it, Shaggy felt stuck. There was no one to turn to that might be able to help him sort through his problems. Last he heard, Velma was still busy working at NASA, and he hadn't seen Fred since he helped out at the children's Christmas pageant… and he obviously wasn't going to ask HER.

Turning towards his dresser, he caught a glimpse of a picture frame. A frame that held a picture he was particularly fond of. Looking at the clock and seeing it was now two thirty in the morning, Shaggy sighed and decided that sleep just wasn't going to come to him tonight. Rolling out of bed yet again, he walked over to his dresser. Picking up the picture frame, he gazed upon the two figures in it. One of them was himself, a couple of years younger than he is now, back when he still wore his green V-necks and brown bell bottoms. The second figure and himself were both eating ice cream cones, his being a simple triple decker scoop loaded with fudge, while hers was an even simpler single scoop of bubble gum ice cream. They had just solved a mystery and were celebrating at the local ice cream parlor in the town they were visiting. They were walking back to the Mystery Machine when Scrappy took the picture. The pup at the time had recently taken up photography as a hobby, and was taking pictures of pretty much anything he could as he sat atop his Uncle Scooby's head. He said he needed to be perched up there to "really get to see some neat stuff", as the pup had put it. And boy, was he glad he did so.

Call it one of those "perfect day" kind of a moments, but the picture that was taken happened to accurately portray their relationship with one another without changing themselves into something that looked cheesy and straight out of a rom-com. Shaggy still had his giant messy ice cream, while she had her small, but spunky cone to herself. The sun was bright that day, it was a Saturday, they were laughing at one of his famed corny jokes right when Scrappy took the picture… it was amazing. Her red hair shimmered under the sunlight, and her eyes held a certain sharpness to them. Considering she was a reporter, as well as detective, this would make sense, except they weren't just sharp. They were alive and sharp at the same time, sorta like how a diamond has sharp edges, but still holds that… LIFE inside. She was wearing her old purple dress and leggings, with her lucky green scarf wrapped around her neck. Near the bottom of the picture, despite being slightly cropped out, you could see how her hand was gently, yet firmly, held within his own. Gently, yet firmly, was the very definition of their love. When they hung out like they did for ice cream, everything was gentle between them. Nothing was harsh and there was no friction between them. They were just, like… happy. Happy and in love. No, more than that. More than just cliché scenarios where everything was all lovey-dovey when they walked home eating ice cream. They also worked well as a team too. No matter what came bumping in the night, they knew that if they stayed strong, they'd be alright. If one of them was in trouble, the other wouldn't rest until they were safe, no matter how scary the situation.

Sitting down on the bed with the springs giving a low creak, Shaggy stared wistfully at the picture. A sigh escaped him.

"Daph… why'd you have to go? We could have, like, talked about it. Heck even if you left me, but with a promise that you would come back soon, I'd take that over this! This is… this is…"

Shaggy lowered his head upon feeling a pain in his chest, specifically in the heart region. He noticed the clothes he was wearing. Red shirt with blue bell bottoms. Not a green shirt with brown bellbottoms that the happy man looking at the beautiful red head in the photograph had on.

"…a living nightmare"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Honestly, I have no idea what a triple decker ice cream cone loaded with fudge would look like. Daphne's cone was based off of a comment Shaggy made in the first live action movie (non-canon to this story) near the beginning, where he mentioned the gang were all a part of one huge ice cream sundae. He described Daphne as being like, "pastrami and gum-flavored ice cream", so I just edited the pastrami part out and left it at bubble gum flavored. I'm having Shaggy and Daphne start dating near the beginning of the New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show/The New Scooby Doo Mysteries, where the two characters meet each other after an absence of Daphne on the show. I'm guessing based off of the Scooby Doo and Scrappy Show, specifically the shorts, that Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy are on one more road trip vacation, before they eventually meet Daphne and get jobs at the magazine company she works for. Also, in case you didn't know, that part where Shaggy has the nightmare of the "ghost" and eventually the panic attack which left him crashing his jeep through the garage door, is a reference to the opening to Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers. It took a while, but I eventually made what seemed like a funny, yet pointless to the plot intro, cannon to the movie. Seriously, what's the deal with the ghost scaring/ singing the gang out of the house in the middle of the night? It pretty much has nothing to do with the plot of the movie besides telling the audience how scary the Boo Brothers are. Which turn out to not be that scary. Not saying I hate it, I really liked it as a kid and I still like it now. It just never made any sense to me, even as a kid. And finally, in case you didn't guess it, Shaggy now has PTSD from capturing the thirteen ghosts. It was really the first time the gang ever met ghosts ON A REGULAR BASIS (yes, I know they have met a few monsters before in the past, but usually there was always a few mystery-based episodes in between them), and I figured it would take a toll on him.

Anyway, enough blabbering, more reviewing!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Water trickled down his face, some of the droplets catching in his small goatee. Others trickled down his neck until they reached the collar of his shirt. Grabbing the towel hanging off of the rack, Shaggy dried his face, hoping he could somehow forget tonight ever happened if he did. Hanging the now slightly damp towel back up, the beatnik walked out of the small upstairs bathroom. He saw the stairs, gave a slight, weary shrug, and carefully walked down them.

When he reached the landing, he gazed over to the couch. The Great Danes were still sleeping peacefully, snoring almost in unison. Despite loving them more than anything in the world, Shaggy still felt a small shot of jealousy as the two were able to sleep peacefully at night, not having anything that would keep them up late like tonight. "Or rather, Shaggy thought, early this morning". The clock on the oven in the next room shown "4:02" in lit up neon green numbers. Feeling a sense of claustrophobia within the dark room, Shaggy tip toed over to the back door, slowly unlocked the deadbolt, and stepped outside for some fresh air.

...

The stars were bright out. Not the brightest he'd ever seen, of course, but still pretty bright. Traveling around the country solving mysteries, there would be plenty of times where the beatnik would lay out on an old blanket spread out on the ground and watched the stars. This hobby of his usually took place when they were out in the middle of nowhere, camped out in the van. The stars were brightest then, clearly visible due to the lack of street lights that would dim them down. Scooby usually stargazed with him during these times. When Scrappy first joined the gang, he would try and join his uncle in watching the stars. The first couple of times, he would either fall asleep or pretend to be looking for UFO's or Martians because he would always end up bored at watching the sky. Now, there were a few times where Shaggy would notice that when he got up for a snack late at night, the small pup would either be sitting in the upstairs window or on the back step, eyes twinkling as he gazed upon the stars. A couple times, at least according to Scooby, his nephew would sometimes fall asleep in these spots, so the elder Great Dane would often bring him inside or try to sneak a pillow underneath him so he wasn't resting in an uncomfortable place.

Tearing his eyes from the stars and these memories, Shaggy glanced across the backyard and noticed that the Mystery Machine's back doors were still open. Strolling across the lawn, the hippy grabbed the metal handles attached to the doors and gently closed them until they clicked. Not removing his hands, he thought back to the fateful day that the beloved van finally had driven its last couple of miles. It was after they had traveled to that institute/farm that Mr. MacDonald owned. When they went to leave the pleasant place, the van kept sputtering, but wouldn't start. Thinking something was wrong with the engine (again), they called a tow truck. The van was in the shop for a couple of weeks, and when Daphne had called the mechanic's number, the only answer the gang was given was that they were still trying to figure out what the problem was. Left with no other choice, the gang had to hitch a ride with Fred on their way up to the Children's Home in order to make it in time to help out Mrs. Featherwig with her pageant. When the snow on the roads grew too high for Fred's beat up mustang to drive them to the small orphanage, they happened to find, oddly enough, a small stable that rented out horses and sleighs. They got their horse and sleigh (which was chosen based off of its groovy blue and green color choice), and made it in time to help start putting together the stage for the Christmas pageant.

Thinking back on it, that was one of the few mysteries Shaggy didn't mind solving. Sure, the Ghost of Christmas Never was terrifying enough, as well as the added danger of dangling from the ice-coated gutter of the top of the third story building. But it was all worth it when they brought a happy smile to the little toddlers' faces. Besides the ghost, there was nothing really scary at all about that mystery. The closest thing to scary during that trip was how much it cost to BUY the sleigh from the stable they rented it from when a certain hyper active puppy decided to write "Mystery Sleigh" on it in thick black marker after he had too much sugar in his system from all those candy canes he was munching on.

"Well, it was either that or the horse that he wrote on", Shaggy said with a light chuckle. Having to explain THAT to the stable owner would have been a bit too much for him.

Backing away from the van, Shaggy frowned as he remembered the message left on their answering machine when they returned home from the pageant. Whatever was wrong with the Mystery Machine was no longer a mystery- the engine block had rusted so bad that it cracked in half. Meaning they would have to install a brand-new motor, which the mechanic said was the least of their problems. The frame of the Mystery Machine was also completely coated in rust, meaning that the entire van could collapse to the pavement if they hit one bad bump to hard. Considering this was a used van that was over sixteen years old, which also had multiple break downs and mechanical problems happen to it in the past, the answer was obvious, yet saddening. They had a tow truck deliver the van to Shaggy's old house, where it sat in his garage for a while, before he had it moved to the house he was currently living in for nearly two years now. No one could bear to simply toss the old metal box into the cities' dump. They had too many adventures, drove to too many mysteries, and had made too many memories in that old machine. To simply toss it would be like if they kicked Scooby Doo out onto the sidewalk like it was nothing. So, the Mystery Machine sat here, slowly fading away. The grass underneath the van began to wilt and die due to the lack of sun exposure, while weeds started growing in clusters around the tires.

...

Looking away from the beloved old van, the hippy turned to face the dark cover that was currently draped over the only running vehicle on his property. Trudging over to it, he grabbed one corner of the tarp and tugged. The vehicle was painted red, with a grey and black trim along the sides. It was a six-wheeler, with a spare tire bolted to one of the back doors. Shaggy opened the two side doors with hesitation, and eventually stepped inside.

The walls that were normally lined with their computers and paranormal detecting devices were bare. When they captured the last of the thirteen ghosts, they had given it all to Flim-Flam so he could find some ghosts of his own to catch while he was staying with Vincent at his castle. Besides, it's not like they would ever bump into REAL ghosts again, right?

Wrong. Triple wrong, in the Boo Brothers' case. Shaggy slumped to the floor, head in his knees. Granted, the Boo Brothers were harmless. Well, at least they weren't TRYING to kill them. Although Shaggy had his doubts when Shreako thought it'd be a good gag to try and scare them by aiming a CANNON at their heads. Then again, did they even understand the concept of life anymore? They were ghosts after all, unable to die or feel pain. The way they would stretch their bodies out of proportion or bonk each other on the head…

Shaking his head from the philosophy of ghosts and how their spectral bodies worked, Shaggy turned towards the front of the van. He could picture the red head beauty at the wheel in the driver's seat. The seat he would be forced to drive in for a while.

Standing up from his position on the floor, the beatnik walked towards the front cab. Shaggy gazed upon the driver's seat, his hand resting on the headrest of the nearby passenger seat, still not comfortable with this crazy idea of his yet.

The red van was the second closest thing besides the ice cream picture sitting on his dresser that represented his and Daphne's love for one another. It was the only thing the two of them could both decide on when looking for a new vehicle. Shaggy liked how it was a van like the Mystery Machine, but still had its own uniqueness to it, and wasn't simply another model that looked just like their old van. Daphne liked the extra set of wheels added to it and the fact that it was bigger. Together, the two of them bought it, and drove it home to show the Doo's, who were busy at home watching tv. Daphne herself unofficially dubbed it "The Mystery Machine II", but rarely called it that, at least by its full name, and Shaggy was grateful for that. He still didn't want to think of this as replacing the beloved old van. It just held to many memories. He just wanted to create a whole new set of memories in this red van, specifically with the red headed woman that was driving it.

And what a better way to start off these new set of memories, then with a set of rings?

What a whole new set of memories, indeed. After finally getting his pilot's license (Daphne got hers on her first try, he took six times, which she always liked to rub in), Shaggy thought, "What better way to propose to the love of your life, then in like, Hawaii?". Granted, Paris might have been more appropriate, but Hawaii had the white sandy beaches, the bright, colorful flowers, all the rich, tropical fruit… besides, Daphne once told him that she always wanted a vacation there. You know, without a mystery to solve. So, the gang packed up Daphne's private jet, and Shaggy himself personally flew to Honolulu, Hawaii. The idea in his mind was to not let Daph lift a finger; he wanted to prove to her that he was more than just the slacker of the group.

That was right about when tragedy struck their otherwise normal vacation. While Shaggy knew flying a plane while reading the map was just as dangerous, if not more, than doing it while driving a car, he never should have let Scooby be the navigator. The dog had his head up in the cloudless skies of Honolulu before they had even left home. So much so, that he grabbed the wrong map that ended up leading them all the way to the Himalayas. Then, they crash landed in a small village and were put on trial by the locals, only let go if they had promised to leave the area before sun down that day. Then, of all things to happen, their PLANE went missing, and the only clue as to where it went was the tire marks leading up to a creepy temple in the middle of nowheres-ville. Then, following the advice of a certain pint-sized pocket picker, the gang consulted the great mystic, Vincent Van Ghoul, who was eating his, uh, "supper", in the local tavern. If you can call a cauldron of bubbling green goo "supper", that is. THEN, the townsfolk turned into a snarling pack of werewolves, the love of his life being one of them.

Shaggy remembered how he had grabbed her wrist to run for it, only to feel dark, coarse hair grow on it, completely unlike her head of soft, silky red natural hair. He shuddered just thinking about remembering it. Which was funny, considering that whole nightmare was over in about five minutes. The real fright show, one that took them just over a year to complete, was filling that cursed chest with thirteen of its now missing occupants that had escaped thanks to one big blunder, caused by yours truly.

Thinking back to "the game show", the beatnik was surprised Daphne was so mad at him. He didn't mean to pick the chest; he was all for grabbing the plane and getting the heck of Werewolf City. SCOOBY of course, wanted the deluxe dog house. But after huddling together and talking it over, the two agreed it was the right thing to pick the plane. But what happened next still haunts Shaggy to this day…

...

"Have you made your decision?"

"Yes, hahahaha, we'll take… the box!"

Cheers and bells went off as confetti fell from the ceiling. Shaggy and Scooby jumped in celebration, both hit with a massive adrenaline rush. The maroon colored chest was then carted towards them by the show's beautifully dressed assistant, who was oddly enough bald.

"So you took the box, now tell us why?", the host said, his equally odd hairdo noticed by the duo as well.

The beatnik chuckled again, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. He honestly wasn't sure. Him and Scoob were about to pick the plane, when both of them had an insane urge to pick the box.

"I guess we both just had a, a dumb hunch!"

"Well, let's just find out how DUMB your hunch really was!"

That should have really been the clue that tipped them off. But Scooby, his body still full of adrenaline, walked over to the creepy looking chest and started to open it when-

"UNCLE SCOOBY DON'T OPEN THE- "

A deafening boom sounded as the lid was suddenly thrust open by what looked like several fireworks going off at once. Adrenaline rush gone, and fear taking a hold of their nerves, the man and his dog both cowered as ghostly moans filled the air.

"Like what did we win?!"

"Thirteen ghosts, in a wide variety of shapes and powers, and they're all YOURS!"

"GHOSTS?! YIKES!"

Ghosts. It had to be ghosts. Werewolves were bad enough, but now ghosts too? This vacation was already going badly when they wound up on the other side of the planet, why'd it have to get even worse?

Shaggy guessed that those two spooks disguised as the host and Vanna White knock-off somehow hit them with that weird adrenaline rush. He wasn't sure how, which made explaining it to Daphne that much harder.

"Like I swear Daph, me and Scoob were just about to pick the plane, when for some reason, like, we slipped up and said the box! We didn't know what was in it, honest!"

"That doesn't exactly help our current problem, in case you haven't noticed! What if we WERE stranded here, in the middle of the Himalayas, with no plane, no way of getting back home, with the addition of thirteen of the worst ghosts terrorizing people around the world, then what Shaggy? Then what would we do?!"

Shaggy swallowed. He didn't exactly know. On what they would do in that situation or what he would say to calm his girlfriend's growing anger.

"Like, I don't know Daph. I really don't. But like, back there, in the cavern? THAT wasn't Scoob or me! We were both hit with a massive adrenaline rush, like we just ate a truckload of cotton candy! We were light-headed, happy, and not thinking clearly. Those two ghosts somehow did that to us. I don't know how, but they did"

He saw her eyes scrunch up from the pilot's seat of the Mystery Flying Machine, and gave a deep sigh.

"Ok Shaggy, I believe you. But like it or not, you and Scooby are both responsible for cleaning this mess up, got it? We'll all help you out, but we can't do all the work while you two chickens cower in the corner. Understood?"

Shaggy meekly nodded his head. Daphne turned away from them. The rest of the flight back to the states was completely silent besides the hum of the twin engines.

That vacation was the reason they broke up after they caught the thirteen ghosts. The vacation he was going to marry her, to strengthen their relationship to a whole new level, was the one that wrecked it beyond repair. He even sold his old house, the one where they met ghost number four, Zomba, who had trapped them in the old "The Son of the Bride of the Ghost of Frankenstein" movie. He had bought the one he was currently living at, in hopes that the couple could start a family here at some point. It was a nice, simple little place with a nice, simple little neighborhood. Perfect for a family. But eventually, even Shaggy could see that Daphne was starting to grow more and more distant. So much that, unless they were searching for the last couple of ghosts, they didn't even speak to each other. After they did catch the last ghost, Shaggy caught Daphne late at night packing up some of her things that she left at his new house. He still remembered how bad he scared her, then how bad she scared him when she told him her what she was planning on doing.

...

"Daph?"

The three dresses on their hangers she was holding suddenly fell to the floor in a clatter.

"Jeepers, Shaggy, don't scare me like that!"

Despite the decaying of their relationship, Shaggy couldn't help a light chuckle.

"Gee, I didn't think I was THAT scary"

He helped pick her clothes off the ground, and made sure the hangers were holding them up properly before he handed them back to her.

"So, do you always like rearrange your closet in the middle of the night?"

Shaggy had woken up to hearing something moving in the guest room that was right next to his. The room was now currently occupied by Daphne, who was going through her closet at about eleven thirty that night. Ever since they went to that Ghost Chaser convention in Morocco looking for the mirror demon, Daphne didn't feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed as him anymore. At the time, he was wondering why, but didn't question it, and just hoped that it was just a phase. A phase that he hoped would end when they finally trapped the last of the thirteen ghosts. Back at his house, Shaggy naturally wanted to see what she was up to, or rather, why she was up at all. What he wasn't expecting was her response.

"Shaggy… I think that the spark went out"

He felt his heart drop.

"H-huh?"

Huh?! Was that the only thing he could muster up?! Sure, he was in shock, but he could have at least said something else as well!

"I… I just don't feel the same way about you as I once did. I'm sorry, I wish I could explain it to you better, but I was hoping I could think it over tonight, and tell you in the morning that…"

Her voice faltered until she went silent and looked to the floor.

"W-what did you want to tell me Daph?"

She looked the heartbroken beatnik in the eye.

"I'm leaving, Shaggy. On Friday"

Friday? FRIDAY?! That was two days away! Shaggy could swear he could feel his own heart's heart breaking. He almost started kneeling on the floor, begging her to stay, anything, until he looked in her eyes. The hippy could see that the young woman in front of him was in pain too. She also wanted to be with him, but she just couldn't love him for some reason. And she was going to have to break away from their relationship if she was ever going to figure it out. With tears threatening to run down his cheeks, Shaggy knew that, for once in his life, he couldn't hide under the bed covers. He had to be a man, not a mouse, for this one.

"Look, Daph… I'm not gonna lie to you and say that I don't care, because, well… I do. And, like, even though it hurts me, and I'm gonna miss you like crazy, I, uh… well I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't own you. If you want to, I don't know, fly solo for a while, and try and figure things out, that's fine! It's your life, and you choose what you want to do with it. I can't be the one to do that. You gotta do what makes you happy"

Daphne managed to give him a small smile as she held back her own tears.

"Thanks for understanding Shaggy"

The two pulled each other into a hug. Soft, loving hands rubbed his back while his own lanky fingers mirrored her movements against her own. They stayed that way for a bit, standing in the dark guest room, the only light illuminated by the outside street light faintly creeping its way through the glass.

"Do you, like… know how long you might be gone?"

Her fingers stopped moving as she thought.

"I… I don't know. At least a few months, for sure"

His breath hitched a bit, but relaxed. He had to stay relaxed and be there for her. He could at least seek comfort from Scooby when she left. She could not.

"Ok. Like, just be sure to write occasionally, so we don't think the Loch Ness Monster ate ya or something", Shaggy said, a small, goofy smile making his way one his face, contrasting sharply against his weary looking eyes. Daphne gave a weak chuckle, hands never leaving his back.

"Don't worry, I will. I wouldn't want to keep you or the dogs in the dark"

Shaggy smiled a little, then went back to his sad frown. There was just one thing he wanted to ask her.

"Daph?"

A small hmm confirmed that she heard him.

"Was it, like… something I did? Or said?"

There was a short period of silence as Daphne thought.

"Yes… a little bit. Not on purpose, of course, but… opening the chest is when I first noticed our relationship beginning to fall apart. And that fight we had afterwards on the plane… I never remember being that angry at anyone, especially at you, Shaggy. My point is, whatever is going on with me has nothing to do with you, it's just the situations that we have been through that have affected me"

Shaggy, to say the least, was confused. If he didn't do anything, then why was she claiming the spark was gone? It didn't make any sense. But he couldn't do anything. It was her decision, and if he really loved her, he'd support it every step of the way.

Even if he wasn't going to walk up those steps with her.

Both of them pulled away from each other. They gazed into each other's eyes, aware of the pain that they held. Daphne took her hands away from where they were resting on his back.

"I… should probably get back to packing. I just didn't want one of the dogs to stumble in here during the day…"

Her voice trailed off.

"Like, it's ok, I get it. But, you were gonna say goodbye eventually, right?"

Daphne gave a sigh.

"Yes, Shaggy, I wouldn't have left in the middle of the night, leaving behind nothing more than a note explaining why. I'm not that kind of person, Shag, you know that"

He did know that. And wish he didn't open his big, fat, stupid mouth and say that.

"Like, I'm sorry Daph… I didn't mean it like that"

Her eyes softened.

"I'm-I'm sorry too"

They stood in silence for a minute or two, just looking at each other in misery.

"I guess I should actually get back to packing. I promise to tell the dogs in the morning. We can discuss it over breakfast"

That was good enough for Shaggy to hear. Scooby, no doubt, would be a bit sad on reacting to the news, but Scrappy was still a young pup. He might not understand, or he might be worried about losing the one of the few female role models that he had come to known besides Velma or his mother. Ruby Doo, Scooby's sister and Scrappy's mother, had died a week after giving birth to Scrappy. The vets at St Bernard's Memorial Hospital couldn't figure out why- it was assumed she was too weak after giving birth. Before she died, she had it written in her will that if anything were to happen to her, her offspring would be legally owned by her youngest brother, Yabba Doo. A few months later, Scooby received a telegram from his younger brother asking him to go at midnight that night to the Coolsville Train Station, stressing that it was urgent. When the brown Great Dane arrived there, he didn't expect his nephew to jump out of the moving caboose of the train in a cardboard shipping box, scaring the living daylights out of him. When Scrappy eventually coaxed his uncle down from the gutter he was clinging to, he had explained to him that his other uncle had sent him here to live with them for a while, while the western Great Dane dealt with a local gang of cattle rustlers that could potentially terrorize the whole town of Tumbleweed. Yabba felt it was too dangerous of an environment for Scrappy to live in, so he sent him with his other uncle for the time being. What Yabba didn't know was the gang, the ORIGINAL gang for that matter, were scheduled to leave again for another road trip around the country the following morning, their last one before Fred, Daphne, and Velma went off to start their first years at their own respective colleges. So, left with no other choice, they took him with them. After a while, it became clear Scrappy was right at home with Scooby and Shaggy, so Yabba gave them legal permission to adopt Scrappy, as long as he would be able to visit him in the west from time to time.

Shaking these memories from his head, Shaggy let his arms drop from Daphne's waist until they fell at his sides.

"Ok, like that'll work. I just don't want Scrappy to feel confused, being only a puppy and all"

Daphne nodded, her thoughts exactly. Shaggy stood their awkwardly for a few seconds, then turned to leave. Before he did, a hand grabbed his own. Turning his head, he saw it was Daphne's hand.

"Wait"

Shaggy turned towards her, slightly confused, before being pulled into another hug.

"It was nothing you did Shag… even though you often consider yourself a coward, you truly are the bravest, kindest, grooviest guy I have ever met. Not many people would go all over the world to hunt down thirteen of the creepiest ghosts that ever existed and say they ACTUALLY did it. That takes courage to do something like that. Even when you were scared, or you ran away and hid, you ALWAYS came back to finish what you started. Whatever is going on with me has nothing to do with you. I guess what I'm trying to say is… don't beat yourself up over me, ok?"

Daphne felt a small water droplet land on her back, and heard a sniffle a few inches from the back of her head.

"Like, don't worry Daph… I'll try not to…"

She let him go again, and bade him goodnight. He can remember walking out of the room, walking into his room, laying on his bed, but he can't remember falling asleep. He could only think about how he was going to get through what could be potentially the rest of his life without the woman staying in the room across from his in it.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Not sure if Yabba Doo ever did send Scrappy to Scooby in a card board shipping box, nor if he ever did raise him when his mother died (if she died at all), but it would explain why Scrappy seemed so much braver than Scooby, as well as why the puppy would occasionally have episodes with his other uncle Yabba and Deputy Dusty in the town of Tumbleweed during the Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo show. The shorts that feature Yabba Doo could just be the occasional visits Scrappy has with the uncle that raised him. During the Scooby Doo and Scrappy short, "Scrappy's Birthday", Scrappy does show bravery and a love of the thrill of violence (which, to be honest, is a little concerning, especially in real life) at the very beginning, but these habits of his could be strengthened be spending time with his brave western uncle. My guess is if Scooby and Shaggy raised him, he might have turned into more of a cowardly, overly cautious pup. Speaking of the short, St Bernard's Memorial Hospital is actually the name of the hospital where Scrappy was born.

Also, during the pilot of the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, the scene where Scooby and Shaggy are deciding what to get during the "game show", always left me confused. Shaggy seemed pretty persistent on getting their plane back, while Scooby at first wanting the dog house. Eventually, Shaggy does seem to convince Scooby to go for the plane (Scooby even does whisper under his breath, "the plane?"), before Shaggy whispers something in audible to the dog, which can be assumed to be further confirmation of them picking the last thing they both agreed on, the plane. Yet, when they go to pick, they randomly pick the chest, and after that moment, the duo both seem to be really happy, which contrasts deeply from only just a few moments ago they had worried expressions on their faces from when they didn't know what to pick. I'm just going on a limb here and saying that the ghosts (Bogel and Weerd) used some sort of ghostly power to give them some sort of an adrenaline rush, which would make them both very hyper and happy, leading them to just say to heck with it and pick the mystery box, which the "host" seemed to hint at it being the most amazing thing in the world.

During the 13 Ghosts, two houses were shown throughout the series. A large, grey colored one with a room that had bone patterned wall paper (possibly Scooby's room) and kitchen which happened to have six POUNDS of popcorn lying around, which led me to believe that that was Shaggy's house (shown in "That's Monstertainment"). The other one was brighter pink house, which I guessed was Daphne's house, shown in "Scooby in Kwackyland". So, the house Shaggy bought in order to eventually have a family with Daphne is the same house shown in the Boo Brothers. Hope that clears up any confusion.

Not sure if Fred ever did drive an old mustang, but during the New Scooby Doo Mysteries episode, "A Nutcracker Scoob", there was a blue and green sled with the words, "Mystery Sleigh" written on the side of it. Considering the Mystery Machine was absent (my guess, it broke down for good, because after this episode was the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, which featured the red van instead of the classic blue and green one) during that entire episode, it's safe to assume that they either hitched a ride with Fred part of the way to the childrens' home and got a horse and sled for the last, presumably, snowier couple of miles, or they took a horse and sled all the way up there. I just went with the more logical idea.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**

Shaggy may seem a little out of character at first, but that's because his life is pretty much going straight down the toilet at this point.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

A bird chirping caused Shaggy to jump and look out the front windshield of the van, seeing it perched on top of bush next to the house, a hint of the morning sun just peaking over the horizon. Looking away from it and at his watch, he saw that it was nearly quarter after six in the morning. With a yawn, it finally dawned on him that he hadn't slept the entire night. Then again, it seemed like each memory he thought of just kept him remembering another memory after that, creating a seemingly never-ending strand of memories. Sorta like how a VHS tape worked; all those tiny frames that made up the movie were actually all connected together on one single strip, which was moving constantly whenever someone pressed "PLAY" on the VCR.

Gazing at the driver's seat yet again, Shaggy figured he might as well get comfortable. With reluctance, the lanky beatnik sat down carefully in the seat, almost expecting to get struck by lightning for doing so. He noticed right off the bat that he had almost zero leg room. Daphne, being slightly shorter than him, as well as being the main driver of this vehicle, was probably the reason behind this. Reaching his hand down to the small button to adjust the seat, Shaggy was about to push it when he stopped. A part of him felt almost like he was disrupting a grave by doing this. He hadn't been in here much after the day she left, and wasn't sure if he wanted to change even just the smallest thing on the van. Call him paranoid, but when you've met ACTUAL ghosts, curses and hexes don't seem that far of a possibility. Leaning back in the seat, the hippy gave a sigh. Running his hands through his long hair, he wasn't sure what to do. Looking in that brain of his, the young man tried to come up with a solution that would help aid his current leg room predicament without the conventional use of simply adjusting the seat. But all he could think about was when she left…

...

It was a sunny day. No clouds, cool temperature, and perfect Friday like weather. When his alarm woke him up, Shaggy remembered saying something he could never say with Scrappy in his presence, then throwing a rude hand gesture out his bedroom window upon seeing how glorious of a day it was. He wasn't normally like this, but given the circumstances, it was almost like Mother Nature was trying to mock him or something when she knew the terrible thing that was going to happen later this very day.

After taking a quick shower and changing, Shaggy went down the stairs and prepared himself for what was coming when he walked into the kitchen. Sitting at the table, Daphne was sipping her coffee, looking at the window at the two Great Danes that were playing a friendly game of "fetch". She turned towards him and gave a small smile.

"Hey"

"Hey"

Shaggy wasn't sure what else to say, so he just went over to the fridge and got the carton of milk out. Pouring a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk, he headed over to the small card table with a white cloth draped over it and joined the red head in staring out the window. Shoveling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth, he saw how in this round Scrappy was now "the human", and Scooby was playing as "the dog", in their odd game of catch. Then again, considering they were both dogs, yet acted human, it kinda made sense. Kinda. If seeing a fully grown Great Dane bound after the ball in happy barks and howls, with a puppy of the same breed following behind him and calling him a good boy and telling him to drop it made any sense at all. Turning his head from the two, Shaggy looked at Daphne, who was still watching the dogs.

"So, like, what time were you thinking about leaving again?"

He knew of course. She had wanted to leave no later than eleven thirty, as her plane to take her back to Coolsville departed at about noon. Sneaking a quick glance at the clock above the stove, the beatnik saw it was nine twenty-three now.

"I was hoping to hit the road by about eleven thirty or so"

He could tell by her eyes that she knew that he already knew the answer; he just wanted an excuse to talk to her. Tearing his gaze from her, he gave a small murmur in response and started scooping cereal into his mouth before it got soggy.

"I'm really gonna miss those two"

Swallowing his cereal in one gulp, the beatnik could see what the red head meant. Scooby and Scrappy were lying in a heap in the backyard, both panting as they were starting to tucker out from playing all morning, their ball laying forgotten a few feet away from them. Daphne turned towards him, concern in her eyes.

"Do you think Scrappy will be ok?"

Shaggy's eyes turned towards the smaller dog, who was currently leaned up against his uncle's ribcage, a big smile on his little face.

"Yeah, I think he'll be ok. He may just need a little time is all"

Scrappy, to put it simply, had not handled it well when they broke the news to him over breakfast a few days ago. More accurately, he threw his plate of pancakes at the wall, and began running up the stairs, screaming that he didn't believe them while visible tears started to well up in his young eyes. Daphne excused herself from the table to go up and talk to him, while Shaggy and Scooby cleaned up the mess of pancakes, broken plate shards, and syrup that was now sticking to the kitchen wall. Twenty minutes later, Daphne came down with Scrappy in tow, whose eyes were now glistening, and his nose was sniffling slightly. The pup hung his head and told Shaggy and Scooby that he was sorry, and that he understood that Daphne going away was just something that had to happen. Shaggy never asked the two what was said upstairs while he helped clean the kitchen, and he doubt he would ever find out. What happened between the two was a private matter, one the beatnik knew he shouldn't try and meddle with. Besides, he had his own problems.

"Will Scooby be ok?"

Turning his gaze towards his pal, his own face started to twist into a smile upon seeing the big, goofy dog give his equally goofy laugh.

"Yeah, like Scoob will be fine"

Scooby took it better than his nephew, but was still confused as to why Daphne had to leave. While the duo had cleaned the mess in the kitchen, he tried his best to explain, but without having a solid explanation himself, he was having a hard time telling his buddy. The hippy's only answer that seemed to give the dog satisfaction was that Daphne had a problem to sort out, one that even she couldn't figure out right away, and she felt the only way she could figure it out was taking a break from seeing him. That was right about when she came back down with Scrappy-

"Will you be ok?"

He froze. The question was so simple, yet so difficult to find an answer for, mainly because his head was spinning from so much going on around him these past couple of days. Swallowing his suddenly dry throat, the beatnik gave the only answer he was sure of.

"I will be alright. Maybe not right away, but I will be"

The answer seemed to give Daphne satisfaction, even if it didn't exactly make her happy. She turned her attention towards the dogs again, this time were playing tug of war. Scrappy was giving it all he had on the old rope toy, while Scooby just lay there on the lawn with the other end in his mouth, not moving a muscle. Seeing them have fun outside suddenly made something snap in Shaggy's head. Standing up quickly from his chair with a loud screech, he walked over to the back door, grabbing Daphne gently by her shoulder.

"Come on"

"But, I still have some coffee left and- "

"But nothing- look, I don't care what you think, but I'm not letting you spend the last couple of hours left here like a depressing scene straight out of a cheesy soap opera, ok? So how's about we go join those two goofballs outside for a little fun?"

The red head turned towards him, and for the first time in a while, had a genuine smile on her face, with a little of that old happiness resurfacing a bit in her eyes.

"I think I'd like that… "

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Honestly, Shaggy snapping was sort of myself snapping at how depressing this story was becoming. It needed a little happiness. I'm also guessing that if Scrappy never really had many mother-like figures in his life besides Velma and Daphne, he'd probably throw a fit if Daphne, the longest mother figure he ever knew, was suddenly going away without a solid explanation. When Daphne falls asleep forever like Snow White in the 13 Ghosts episode, "Scooba Kadoobra", Scrappy does shed a couple of tears, hinting at the fact he might have viewed her as the closest thing to a mother he ever had, and her looking lifeless reminded him of the fact that his birth mother is dead (again, IF she ever died. Then again, who would just let their kid travel the world with the gang solving mysteries that involved dangerous criminals? They probably wouldn't, unless they were dead or something. Or something).


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The rear doors of the van were shut as the last suitcase was unloaded onto the parking lot. With a grunt, Shaggy started to hall three suitcases at once to the airport entrance, Scooby taking the other three. Scrappy helped carry Daphne's purse while the red head walked slightly ahead of all of them, looking at the plane ticket in her hands.

The gang walked into the glass doors of the airport, the woman and puppy a few feet ahead of the slightly struggling hippy and his dog. Turning her head, she gave the duo a small, funny kind of look.

"You know, I could have taken some of those bags myself you know"

Lugging the heavy baggage towards the flight attendants, Shaggy craned his head towards the red head that was facing him, his face hiding his emotions with a goofy grin.

"Like, now what kind of gentlemen would me and Scoob be if we didn't we help out a lady with her- watch it Scoob!"

Too late. The Great Dane had grown tired of lugging the bags across the floor, so he decided it would be better for his posture if he stood straight up with the luggage stacked up in his gigantic paws. While this did help improve his posture, it didn't improve his vision as the suitcases were blocking his eye sight, causing him to trip on the pile of bags Shaggy had left in front of the luggage loading dock in a flying heap.

"Rhoops! Rorry!", Scooby said as he hurriedly tried to stack the suitcases in neat rows again.

"That's ok Scooby, it was only an accident", Daphne said, a small, slightly pained smile forming on her lips, before she suddenly turned her attention towards the clerk who politely asked her for her ticket.

While Scooby had been busy stacking the bags up, Shaggy had been the one to notice the small, seemingly unnoticed, pain filled expression. The beatnik realized that she really was going to miss them, himself as well, even if they didn't function as a couple anymore. Shoving his hands in his pockets, the hippy could feel the small, velvet box that lay up against his car keys. Yes, he brought the ring with him; not to propose, or anything like that, but… he had felt it would be right if he gave it to her. The last thing the beatnik wanted to do was go back to the jeweler and return it, mainly because he could just imagine the amount of pity the old shop keeper would give the already miserable young man. But he also couldn't keep it around him anymore; it reminded him of too many painful memories, as well as happy ones that never got a chance to blossom. Shaking his head from these thoughts, Shaggy noticed Daphne had said something to him.

"Like sorry, what'd you say Daph?"

The red heads eyes practically melted into his own. "I said that I guess it's time to say goodbye", Daphne said, her eyes shimmering with tears that threatened to fall. Tearing her gaze from his own, she turned towards the elder of the two dogs sitting there with them on the hard linoleum airport floor.

"Scooby?" The dog lifted his head, a sorrowful expression on his normally happy-go-lucky face.

The red head knelt down on the floor in front of the Great Dane and pulled him into a hug, the dog mimicking her by wrapping his large paws around her own back.

"I'm really going to miss you", she said as she burrowed her face into his brown fur.

"Re too Raphne… ", the dog blubbered, tears already dampening the fur under his eyelids as the woman pulled apart from the miserable mutt.

"Oh, Scooby… here, take this", Daphne said as she reached into the back pocket of her lavender jumpsuit, handing over a white handkerchief. The Great Dane gave a small "rhank rou", before blowing his nose as loudly as a trumpet horn, wiping it furiously.

Turning her head from the saddened Great Dane, the red head turned towards the smaller puppy on the floor in front of her, whose own eyes were starting to water. Lowering her body even lower to the ground, Daphne gently pulled the pup into a hug, his smaller body fitting perfectly in the crook of her neck. She could her him start to sniffle, causing her to hug him tighter.

"Don't worry Scrappy, I'll be sure to write and call to let you know how I'm doing… I'll even visit you when I've sorted through my problem"

At this, Shaggy's heart did a double take. Visit? Was that just to keep the pup from completely breaking down or was it something she actually intended to do? Not that the beatnik doubted that she would eventually visit, but the way she worded it made it sound like it would be sooner than he anticipated.

"Ok… thanks for being there Daphne. For everything", Scrappy said, content with what she had promised him, even if he still wasn't exactly happy with the idea quite yet. Daphne gave him one last squeeze before she gently let him go, her hand not leaving his shoulder quite yet.

"Be sure to listen to your Uncle Scooby and Shaggy, ok? I know how often you want to be the hero against whatever ghost that tries to scare you, but they know what's best for you, alright?"

The pup gave a small sigh, still not happy with all that was going on.

"Ok, I'll try…"

Shaggy could tell that he was going to try to be on his best behavior, but knew that it was going to be a difficult to break the habit. After all, the puppy pretty much grew up in the wild west with his Uncle Yabba, chasing down outlaws and criminals before he even started traveling around solving mysteries with the gang. Looking up from Scrappy, the hippy watched as Daphne pushed herself off the floor, and stood facing him. She looked at him, with himself looking back at her.

"Well… goodbye"

"Like, yeah… goodbye"

Both figures stood there for a second before quickly pulling each other into a tight embrace, somehow deeper than the other two hugs that happened before. The prickly whiskers on his chin found themselves immersed in a sea of red hair, while the side of her face was suddenly leaning against a head of messy brown hair. They stayed that way for a minute, then pulled apart. Daphne then gave a short little wave, then turned to leave. But not before a hand grasped her own.

"Wait a sec Daph… I got something for you"

Thrusting his other hand into his pocket, Shaggy's fingers brushed against the small box he felt the woman in front of him deserved to have, to at least let her know how much he truly cared for her. Fingers grasped tightly, he took his hand out of his pocket and presented Daphne with…

His keys.

A confused expression flashed onto her face. Shaggy quickly used his fingernail to pry open the key ring his car key was dangling from, and quickly unhooked his house key. He laid the key in her open palm.

"Take this. Don't worry, like, I got a spare at home under the mat by the back door. Please, Daph… it's just… when you come home, I like want you to FEEL at home. Or if you need to get in the house for an emergency or something. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is… I don't want to give you the impression that as soon as your gone, there's this invisible force field between us that you can't break through. If you ever want to visit us, just unlock the front door. Ok?"

Her hand closed around the small metal object. A part of him could kind of tell that she believed he was hiding something, and that the key wasn't the first thing he thought about giving her. But she accepted it anyway.

"Thank you, Shaggy. I'll be sure to use it"

With that and a small wave at the dogs, the red headed woman turned around and walked up the gang way until she disappeared onto the plane. Shaggy stayed rooted to the spot, until at least Scrappy jumped up and grabbed his hand, yapping about seeing Daphne's plane leave. The beatnik felt like he had failed inside, failed to tell her how he felt, how he had wanted to and still does want to marry her. But a part of him, deep down in his heart, realized that any romantic gesture (especially presenting a ring to her in a small velvet box), wouldn't win her over. What she needed was time. Time away from the gang, from ghost hunting, and from him. And he would just have to live with that.

They all waved as they watched the airplane start to lift off of the runway, wings lifting it higher into the sky. Shaggy doubt she could have spotted them in the crowd of people, but then again, he himself was wearing a bright red shirt, and he doubted there would be a lot of Great Danes standing up and waving at a plane today. After a few seconds passed, he turned and starting walking back outside to the parking lock, his key ring hooked on his index finger with only one lone key dangling from it. The dogs wordlessly followed behind.

...

They had ordered a pizza that night. Extra cheese with onions, mushrooms, and pineapple slices. They ate in silence at the kitchen table, and when they finished, they washed their dishes and chucked the pizza box in the trash. They all set up camp in the living room and started watching tv. Eventually, Scrappy fell asleep on the arm rest of the couch, and Scooby joining him a few minutes later in peaceful slumber. But Shaggy couldn't sleep. He couldn't think. He just couldn't.

Careful not to wake the two dogs, the hippy reached forward and grabbed the remote from its place on the coffee table. Pushing the channel button, he found an old rerun of "Let's Make 'Em Squeal". Hastily turning the tv off, Shaggy decided it was time for bed. The last thing he wanted to be reminded of was when he fell for the phony game show set up by those two ghosts, which turned his already ruined proposal vacation even worse. Trudging up to bed, he turned out his small bedside lamp and tried to get to sleep.

...

A week later was when Shaggy had his first panic attack. That one was always the worst of them, simply because at the time he had no idea what was going on. The dogs were out at the movie theater watch the sequel of "Star- Dog Ranger of the North Woods". He was walking into the kitchen for a snack when he saw what looked like a dark ghostly figure on the wall, limbs outstretched, reaching out its arms in an unnaturally long way to swallow him up.

"ZOINKS!"

Thud. He had jumped in the air in shock, where he had inevitably fallen hardly right on his butt. Backing away to the corner of the room, Shaggy pulled himself into a tight ball, heart pounding, widened eyes never leaving the ghoul that seemed to be reaching out towards him. His mind was screaming at him to run, but his body just kept trying to pull his limbs in tighter. It got to the point where marks were starting to form on the skin of his knees from where his fingers were clutching his legs as tightly as they could. When the Doo's returned home, they found Shaggy on the ground in the kitchen, shaking and covered in cold sweat. Scooby tried calling out to him, but the beatnik didn't even respond. Eventually the Great Dane got Shaggy to start taking deep breaths, which eventually calmed him down. Scrappy was still slightly concerned, not understanding what the big fuss was about from seeing a creepy looking shadow from the neighbor's tree, but his uncle hushed him, saying the typical thing about how he would understand when he was older.

The second time he had a panic attack was after Shaggy had had a nightmare of when he was tricked into opening the Chest of Demons. The thirteen ghosts started barreling down the pathway of the gang, beginning to take the form of the hideous goblin-like face that was attached to the front of the chest he had just opened. Flim-Flam had grabbed Scrappy and dove out of the way while Vincent disappeared in a green cloud of smoke… but when Daphne turned to run, she tripped on the uneven stone ground. Landing roughly on her elbows and knees, she turned to face the horrific ghoulish horde about to run her over, Shaggy knowing it was all his fault…

A scream woke Scooby up at about three in the morning causing the Great Dane to jump in the lanky man's arms. Looking around, he couldn't find any ghosts or ghouls, but when he turned to face his owner, Scooby saw how his face was slick with sweat, and how the young man looked like he was having a heart attack. Still not quite understanding the situation, the dog tried to do the breathing technique he used before, thankfully calming Shaggy down enough to go back to sleep…

* * *

 **Author's Note**

"Let's Make 'Em Squeal" was actually the game show that Bogel and Weerd used to trick Shaggy and Scooby into opening the Chest of Demons. Both Shaggy and Scooby had exclaimed that it was their favorite show, so I thought it would be interesting if their opinions of the show might have changed after opening the chest. The nightmare Shaggy had of Daphne getting run over was based off of the giant goblin-like face that ran over Bogel and Weerd after the chest was opened. Star- Dog Ranger of the North Woods was the movie Shaggy and Scooby were walking home from in the pilot episode of "Scooby-Doo Where Are You?".


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

BEEEEEEP!

Shaggy jolted his head up quickly, eyes darting around the cab, before realizing that he must have been falling asleep at the driver's seat, where he eventually laid his head down on top of the van's horn on the steering wheel in front of him. Lifting his arm up, he could see on his watch that it was eight in the morning. The sun had risen more than when he last saw it, and the night stars were beginning to fade away.

Stretching his lanky limbs, Shaggy gave a large yawn. He was about to head into the house to start making himself some breakfast, when he remembered the fridge was currently empty, besides a left-over pickle of course. Sitting in the seat, he turned his head upward until he saw the closed sun visor just above the dash. Opening it, the beatnik was prepared to catch two things- the old key for the bright red van, as well as a certain velvet covered box. Both items fell lightly on his lap, where he picked both of them up with his hands. Craning his head upwards, Shaggy caught sight of a picture paper clipped on the visor. The picture was of himself and Daphne that was taken years ago, both of them enjoying their ice cream cones, as well as each other's company. When Scrappy had taken that photo, the young couple had gotten two standard sized copies, as well as a smaller one for a gold, heart shaped locket Daphne had gotten for her birthday. He had actually found the locket at the same jeweler who had sold him the ring that was currently in his other hand. Daphne had kept the smaller picture in her locket, while one of the standard sized pictures was put in a frame that used to sit on their dresser back when they shared a room. That same frame was currently sitting up on Shaggy's dresser back at the house. The other picture was kept, originally on the Mystery Machine's sun visor, before it broke down for good and the picture was re-paper clipped to the visor of their new van.

Sighing happily at these memories made Shaggy stop and think. Turning his head, he looked at the two items that were resting in each of his hands. One of them contained memories that were tainted with a ghoulish twist of fate, killing any chance at any new memories ever being made. The other held happy memories for the most part, as well as the opportunity to create new ones.

For the first time in a while, Shaggy gave a warm, genuine smile.

Leaning over to the passenger's side, the hippy opened the glove compartment, where he stored the small box in the very back of it, behind all the maps they had used over the years. Closing it up until it clicked, he looked up once more at the picture paper clipped to the sun visor. Shaggy brushed it lightly with the tips of his fingers, before closing the visor and hiding the picture from view. Daphne had even told him before she left to not beat himself up over her; while he didn't listen to that advice for nearly two years, he was going to start listening now. Putting the key in the ignition, Shaggy twisted it.

…

Scooby awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. Lifting his dreary head from its spot on the couch, the Great Dane sleepily let out a big yawn, causing the smaller dog lying next to him to shift in his sleep. Careful to get off the couch without waking his nephew, Scooby went to see if the delicious aroma was in fact breakfast being made. When he walked into the kitchen, he saw Shaggy standing happily in front of the stove, wearing his old white apron and matching chef's hat. He was holding a spatula in one hand as the bacon and eggs sizzled on the frying pan, a goofy grin on his face.

"Raggy?"

The beatnik turned, giving his buddy a warm welcome.

"Like hey Scoob, how'd you sleep?"

The dog raised an eyebrow. The last time he had seen Shaggy, he had blown his top and started to have a panic attack in the back of the Mystery Machine. While Scooby did calm him down, a panic attack still usually left him rather drained the next day or two. Now he seemed happy, more than usual in fact. Scooby chalked it up to him having a good night's rest for once.

"Rokay. Rou?"

"Actually, I didn't sleep ONE wink!"

The dog seated at the kitchen table did a double take. Examining the beatnik's face closer, Scooby did in fact see a set of rather large bags resting underneath his eyes.

"Ruh? Rhy Raggy? Are rou rokay?", the Great Dane said, suddenly very concerned for his friend. But all the hippy did was give his trademark chuckle, chef hat goofily resting atop the hairstyle that earned him his nickname.

"Like I'm better than ok, Scoob. You see, I did a lot of thinking last night, and I mean a LOT of thinking, and I came to a conclusion. Yes, not having Daph around here sucks. Like, I might still have a moment or two where I'll see an old picture or hear an old song on the radio, but I'm gonna work better at putting the past behind me. I know now that it's not healthy to keep traveling down ol' memory lane if all it does is hurt me, so instead I'm like gonna switch to a different route for a while, and start making some new groovy memories worth reminiscing about. Who knows, maybe I'll even meet someone new!"

Scooby took a second to take all this new information in, before giving his own goofy grin. Getting up from his spot at the table, the large Great Dane gave the hippy a huge slurp on the cheek.

"Rlad to rave you rack, Raggy", he said, before bounding back towards the chair he had recently abandoned. Shaggy gave another chuckle.

"And it's like good to be back. Here Scoob, breakfast is served. Now, don't eat it all while I'm gone, I'm just gonna go wake up Scrappy"

The dog paid no attention at the beatnik as he tore into the plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, eating like a starving animal. Which he was of course. When he finished his meal, Scooby gave a slight burp and wiped his mouth with a napkin. He was about to go check on his nephew when he realized something; there was nothing in the fridge last night, as he himself was the one that ate the last of the food within it. A confused expression on his face, the Great Dane walked on his hind legs towards the refrigerator, and used his front paws to open it. Peering inside, he saw that all the shelves and compartments inside were stocked full of food. Hearing voices, Scooby closed the door and turned to see Scrappy and Shaggy walk into the room.

"… that's ok, Shag. I forgive ya, and besides, you were just upset about Daphne. Kinda like I was when I threw my plate of pancakes at the wall back then"

The tall man besides the pup smiled warmly at him. "Like thanks for understanding Scrap, it really means a lot. Now come on, breakfast is getting cold!"

With a quick hop up onto his respective chair at the kitchen table, the smaller Great Dane gave a quick, "Good morning Uncle Scooby", before digging into the food in front of him. His uncle gave his own "Rorning Scrappy", before facing the beatnik.

"You rent grocery rhopping?"

"Yeah, like around eight I went down to the supermarket and picked up a few things"

"With rhat?"

"Like, I took the van"

Scooby look dumbfounded for a second before giving Shaggy a puzzled look.

"The Rystery Rachine?", the dog questioned, wondering how on earth he managed to fix the old van up in one night. The beatnik chuckled. "Like no Scoob, I took the red van. I figured it'd be silly to just keep it around for the sake of remembering Daphne, because we don't need a van for that. We can just use these things", Shaggy said, pointing his index finger at his head.

Scooby smiled. A week after Daphne left, the hippy couldn't stand the thought driving in that red van any longer, so he went out and bought the first cheap car he could find with what little money he had, and when he got home the beatnik parked the van in the backyard, where he threw an old tarp over it. He had refused to go near it, to the point where he wouldn't even cut the grass surrounding it for the first couple months, letting it grow ridiculously long. The fact he even TOUCHED the van, let alone drive it, was a definite improvement to Shaggy's emotional state.

"Rell said Raggy. Rell said", Scooby proudly said, causing his owner's smile to widen. Turning around, Scooby prepared to do his daily walk around the neighborhood, but first he went to go fetch the paper. Opening the front door, the Great Dane trotted to the edge of the driveway. As he went to pick up the paper, Scooby couldn't help but feel like one of their two major problems was now finally out of the way. Their other problem, one everybody usually falls into at some point, was money. Shaggy had quit his job as Daphne's reporter partner and camera man, for obvious reasons, having not been too worried as he had a large sum of money stowed away in the bank. Mainly for hopes of starting a family with Daphne at some point. But eventually that large sum of money was starting to dwindle down to the last couple of thousands, meaning that they would need to find jobs and fast.

As the Great Dane trotted back up the driveway towards the house, he failed to notice a small ad on the corner of the paper that was currently rolled up and carried in his mouth. The ad, while the ink was lightly smeared with dog spit, had said,

PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS WANTED

Employer name: Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girls.

Location: Baton Rouge, LA.

Phone number: 225-666-1313

Job Requirements:

Must be physically fit (will be asked to demonstrate upon job interview).

A high school diploma, although college degrees in teaching and other related certificates are certainly welcomed

Must also be willing to live on the premises while working there.

Need to at least work for one semester (four months), but welcome to work longer.

Need to be friendly and work well with children.

What we offer:

Full medical and dental insurance for up to a year as long as minimum working requirement of four months is kept.

A room at the school will be given for teacher(s) to sleep in, and will be served three meals a day.

Salary: $80,000 per semester (four months)

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Not sure where Miss Grimwood's school is exactly, but I figured it was somewhere in Louisiana based on the nearby Barren Bog, and other swampy like territory. Also, a quick internet search told me that Baton Rouge, LA, happens to have a legend regarding a girl killing her boyfriend and herself at Louisiana State University. Phantasma perhaps? The number I put there is not real, but I did actually search "Grimwood" into the online phone book for Baton Rouge, LA, and I found a heck of a lot of people with that last name. I never knew it was an actual last name. Anyway, not sure if you care, but getting paid $80,000 for four months of work is pretty freaking amazing, especially in the 70's. Which is why the gang were so eager to get to work despite being kind of lazy and the fact that the area around their work environment is creepy as all can be.


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Stepping out onto the back step late at night, Shaggy stared up at the stars for some late-night thinking. Originally his plan had been late-night snacking, but one look outside at the bright stars made him want to go outside and see them. Sitting down on the dull doormat, the beatnik reflected on his life since his he first drove the red van last week when he hadn't done so for nearly two years. He was happier, that much was obvious. Still saddened when an old song of theirs plays on the radio or he catches a glimpse of the picture sitting on his dresser when he walks into his room for something, but compared to before, he was improving dramatically. The hippy even got himself and even the dogs a fancy new job; emphasis on the fancy. They would soon be leaving next week to travel down south to Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girls to start their new positions as Phys Ed teachers. Granted, it didn't sound like that big of a position, but the pay was huge; working there one semester alone would be enough to pay his bills for the next five years. Both the medical and dental insurance was a huge plus as well. And of course, three meals a day? That sounded like a dream come true!

Making the trip down there and living there might be a bit of a hassle. The plan for that whole problem was to work there for at least a semester, see how the job was, and if he liked it, he would buy a house down there and sell his current house. If not, then the beatnik would move back here and try to find something else to do. Or maybe he would sell his current house and move somewhere else regardless. Looking up at the white siding of the place, Shaggy had remembered when he first drove into this small little neighborhood. He initially found the house with hopes of starting a family with Daphne; given that that wouldn't happen now, it seemed like it was pointless to live here. Sure, the place was nice, but the hippy felt a need of a new environment. Maybe he could move to West Virginia. He always wanted to visit there. Or maybe this job could help him find what he was looking for. Or he could start a new hobby. Or something.

Meeting Miss Grimwood sure was interesting. It turned out that she just submitted that ad of hers the day before they got the paper, so when they called the number underneath the print, a rather giggly girl managed to tell them which hotel she was staying at. When they called her room number at the hotel, she instructed the gang to meet her at ten o'clock that night at the playground in the elementary school next to the hotel. Naturally, they all felt this was very odd, but pulling up to the playground, Shaggy could see some sort of obstacle course set up, probably to test their physical strengths as the ad had said. They had passed flawlessly, although Shaggy couldn't quite understand why each of them had to shriek at the top of their lungs. The rest of the interview went great, and then Shaggy signed the contract Miss Grimwood handed the young man, with his two dogs signing that they were both witnesses. Very odd of that woman to trust two dogs, as well as hold the interview in the middle of a dark, empty, and slightly creepy school ground. Very odd indeed…

Shaking his head from these troubling thoughts, Shaggy instead focused on the stars. He heard the door open and shut behind him. Turning his head, he could see Scooby and Scrappy sitting there on the step next to him, slightly concerned looks on their faces. He gave a sigh.

"Like I'm ok guys, I just wanted to see that stars"

With a smile, both of the Great Danes joined the beatnik in gazing up at the stars. Shaggy smiled as he realized that, yeah, he isn't married to the love of his life or have a Shaggy or Daphne Jr running around yet- but that was groovy as far as he was concerned. Yeah, life can be a real jerk to you sometimes, but the trick is to just get back up and keep on trudging. To not let fear completely take you over. For years, Shaggy had been a slave to extreme fear, to the point where it would start to render him helpless when his panic attacks hit. But since he started driving the van and working on improving himself, he's stopped having them. Wrapping his lanky limbs around his two buddies, the beatnik could only be sure of one thing that got him out of this. The one thing that he had thought he had been wasting when he stayed up that night, going over all of his most joyful and painful memories. The one thing that eventually healed him.

Time.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

And that's it! For those of you who don't know, in Scooby Doo and The Reluctant Werewolf, the narrator mentions that Shaggy is racing at a track in "Tyler County, USA". After some internet searching, I eventually gave up because I couldn't figure out if it was Tyler County, TX or Tyler County, WV, so I just stuck with West Virginia because there happens to be a Tyler County Speedway there, hence the reference, if you could even call it that. Also, the giggling girl on the phone with Shaggy when he called the school to find out if Miss Grimwood was still in town? I'll give you a hint, it starts with a "P", and ends with "hantasma". Also, the reason the gang had to shriek at the top of their lungs during the interview? A reference to the Ghoul School, where the class has to practice, "deep-shrieking".

Hope you enjoyed!


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